Enduring+Understanding

Global Languages Enduring Understandings (final)


 * Standard I: Communication **
 * Acquired languages can be used to communicate, express feelings and emotions, and exchange information and opinions while gaining new perspectives.
 * Effective language communicators discern language patterns, use ¨guessing¨ skills, ask for clarification, and experiment with the target language.


 * Standard II: Cultural Awareness **
 * Language is a dynamic system that changes over time and incorporates new influences; therefore, a language appears in close contact with its background and surroundings and evolves.
 * In order to truly learn a language one should be immersed in its culture and understand its people, traditions, celebrations, arts, and literature.


 * Standard III: Cross-Curriculum Connections **


 * The study of a global language and its culture reinforces and connects content and skills from other disciplines.


 * Standard IV: Life-Long Language Learners **


 * Self-assessment and reflection are inherent components of language acquisition.
 * Semantic, graphic, and phonological reasons behind languages patterns; can help when dissecting a language’s code and transmitting its messages.


 * Standard V: Globallyminded Language Learners **


 * The discovery of global perspectives help to shape the learners’ view of the world and their community.
 * Appreciating and understanding the variety of cultures that exist in our global community enrich our view of that society and the world.
 * Through a global perspective of languages comes understanding and informed application of a specific target language.



SAS GLOBAL LANGUAGES.
__ ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS. __  1. Making interdisciplinary connections as one reads, writes, speaks or listens in another language allows one to acquire knowledge, reinforce concepts and gain new perspectives.

2. Appreciating and understanding the variety of cultures that exist in a society enrich our view of that society.

3. Effective communication in another language does not necessarily require 100% accuracy. The successful production of the language, not the failure, should be focused on.

4. Language is a code that transmits a message so both form/structure/grammar/vocab and content/vocab/context are important to understand and use.

5. Language is a living system that changes over time and incorporates new influences. Like a living organism, a language appears in close contact with its background and surroundings, evolves and dies.

6. Language patterns make sense for semantic, graphic and phonological reasons (meaning, spelling and pronunciation).

7. The acquisition of a second language does not only come from the mastering of its vocabulary and grammar, but also from the knowledge of its culture.

8. Understanding how second languages are learnt and how language patterns work; developing ¨guessing¨ skills to help negotiate meaning and the habit of searching for meaning and asking for clarification; experimenting and feeling safe to take risks with the language; learning from mistakes and being able to apply what one has learnt to the real world are all a natural part of the language learning process and language development.

9. Monitoring one’s progress towards one’s language learning goals is important in achieving said goals.

10. The study of a foreign language and culture reinforces and connects content from other disciplines.

11. Cultural perspectives discovered in texts, photos, art, language and multimedia help shape the learners’ view of the world and their community. In order to truly learn a language one must dive into its culture, understand its people, its traditions, its celebrations, its art and its literature. Through knowledge, comes understanding and then application.